Chapter 3: How Have the Recent Experiments Been Going?

The setting sun bathed the teaching building in an amber glow. The leaves of the plane trees rustled in the evening breeze, scattering onto the asphalt road bathed in the lingering light.

On the third floor of the Information Building, room 314.

At the window-side workstation, a boy with a buzz cut propped his head up with one hand, while the other manipulated the mouse, occasionally clicking on the screen.

What was displayed on the screen wasn’t a thesis, but rather—Teamfight Tactics.

Perhaps bored from waiting, he looked up at the boy sitting opposite, who was intently staring at his own screen.

“Is anyone joining our group this year?”

The boy across leaned back in his chair, stretched lazily, and shook his head. “Not that soon. Didn’t the interviews just end today?”

“I hope a junior joins the group soon. That way Professor Deng won’t have to watch over me every day…” The buzz-cut boy sighed and moved the mouse again.

“Watching you means he values you. How’s your thesis going?”

The buzz-cut boy rolled his eyes. “Just finished revising it and sent it to him. Don’t know if it’s good enough, but the deadline’s coming up fast. If it’s not good, it still has to be.”

“If your thesis gets accepted, you won’t just graduate—you could probably go straight into a PhD program. Unlike me, I haven’t even finished running my experiments. Don’t know if I’ll have it ready before summer break.”

“Don’t even mention it. Just seeing the word ‘thesis’ gives me a headache.” The buzz-cut boy raised his hand, ending the topic.

“Alright, alright. Want to grab some food?”

“Sure, let me finish this round first.”

“Beep~ beep beep~” The sound of the fingerprint lock at the door rang out.

The moment they heard it, both boys didn’t even look up. They skillfully pressed Alt+Tab to switch the screen, filling it with the PDF of the thesis.

A middle-aged man with a Mediterranean hairline and a smile walked into the lab, heading straight behind the buzz-cut boy and patting his shoulder.

“Qiu Yan, I’ve reviewed your thesis. The revisions are decent, but there are a few points in the abstract that need polishing. You should highlight your innovations more.”

“Understood, Professor.” Qiu Yan nodded calmly.

Clearly, this wasn’t his first time dealing with such matters.

“Haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

Qiu Yan’s expression stiffened but he nodded.

“Perfect. Let’s eat together. I’ll also talk to you about the thesis and there’s another favor I need from you.”

The boy at the opposite workstation lowered his head and covered his mouth, clearly holding back laughter.

Although Professor Deng was usually quite nice, eating with a professor was always a bit awkward for a student.

Qiu Yan glanced expressionlessly at his good friend across the desk. “Professor, Shen Rui hasn’t eaten either. Should he join us?”

“Sure!” Professor Deng turned to Shen Rui. “How’s your experiment going lately?”

Shen Rui looked at Qiu Yan with a hint of grievance. “Not bad. Most of the baselines are done, just need to finish the ablation experiments.”

Since the professor had spoken, there was no avoiding the meal.

Actually, eating with the professor wasn’t without perks—at least they didn’t have to pay.

The trio left the campus, turned left, took a few more turns, and arrived at a small private eatery.

Professor Deng picked up the menu. “Boss, we’re ready to order.”

Though scanning QR codes to order was common now, this little restaurant still used handwritten menus.

“Coming right up!”

“One order of rustic stir-fried pork, dry pot potatoes, minced meat with eggplant, and a fish.”

He then looked at the two students. “Anything else?”

“No, that’s fine.”

Four dishes for three people was just right, and the professor had chosen their favorites.

“Alright!” The owner replied and headed to the kitchen.

Shen Rui shot a sharp glance at Qiu Yan, but Qiu Yan remained indifferent.

“Qiu Yan, focus on your thesis these next couple of days. Try to submit it before next week.”

“Got it.”

“Shen Rui, you need to hurry with your thesis too. Since your experiments are nearly done, get me a draft before next Friday’s group meeting.”

Though the professor phrased it as a question, Shen Rui knew it was a polite way of ordering. If he argued, he’d be facing frequent dinner invitations all week.

“No problem!”

“That’s enough about the thesis for now. I actually called you here for another reason. The interviews just ended today, and five students have emailed me. I’m planning to interview them, but they’ll need to answer a few questions related to their major. You two should prepare some questions—not too hard, but not too easy either. You’re familiar with this, right?”

Professor Deng opened his email on his phone and pushed it toward the two.

They glanced over the five emails, including one from Zhou Yun.

“Alright, Professor. How many students are you planning to recruit this year?”

With the thesis topic out of the way, the atmosphere relaxed considerably.

“Originally, there were six slots, but I lent two to other professors, so I’m only recruiting four this year. I can’t handle too many students.”

“Your seniors are about to start internships, and there’s a competition this summer. When the juniors join, you can take them under your wing. Qiu Yan, your thesis will be submitted soon, and with nothing else on your plate, you should aim to bring back a prize.”

“Uh… what competition?”

“Cybersecurity. I haven’t looked into the details yet, but I’ll send you the link later. Take a good look. Also, I’ll give you a bit more in stipends for the next couple of months, alright?”

At first, they were hesitant. Mentoring students for competitions was quite a hassle, but extra pay changed the equation.

“No problem!”

Professor Deng laughed and scolded them playfully, “You two…”

Just then, the first dishes arrived. “Let’s eat.”

They were already a bit hungry, and with the professor’s go-ahead, they dug in.

Hangzhou was a great place, except for the food options.

Finding a restaurant with decent flavor like this one was quite rare.

At the hotel.

Zhou Yun had finished his PPT—less than ten slides. He leaned back in his chair and mentally rehearsed the presentation, a habit from his previous group meetings.

Often, the professor’s questions were tricky, and without preparation, it was easy to get flustered.

After confirming everything was in order, he saved the file, shut down his laptop, washed up briefly, and went to bed.

He didn’t know what he was thinking at the time. Despite having back-to-back interviews for two days, he had barely slept more than four hours in forty-eight hours.

Miraculously, he didn’t feel especially tired. Truly, the resilience of youth.